Châtel or Villars: the same mountain, a very different map
The Ski Snug teamUpdated 12 October 20265 min read
Châtel and Villars are close relations. Our matching puts Châtel closer to Villars than any other French resort we cover, and Villars third closest to Châtel of the 55 resorts we cover. Both are family resorts by our read, both run from December to April, and Geneva is the airport for either. On the measure, the mountains are close: the skiing tops out at 2,084 metres at Châtel and 2,074 at Villars, and 23 and 25 percent of the piste is at or above 1,800 metres.
So the question is not really the mountain. It is what comes with it: a farm village on a linked circuit of twelve villages, or a calm Swiss resort with a view of Mont Blanc and a smaller area of its own. The numbers first.
The numbers, side by side
| Figure | Châtel | Villars |
|---|---|---|
| Village altitude | 1,200 m | 1,300 m |
| Top of the skiing, measured | 2,084 m | 2,074 m |
| Linked ski area | Portes du Soleil, 580 km measured, 600 km official | Villars-Gryon-Les Diablerets, 87 km of piste, 104 km with its ski routes |
| Piste we measure around the village | 82 km | 71 km |
| Green and blue | 45 km, 55% of the piste | 48 km blue and easier, 68% of the piste |
| Black | 5.4 km | 1.5 km |
| Marked off piste itinerary | None in our data | 3.9 km |
| Piste steeper than one in four | 26% | 24% |
| Piste gentler than 15% | 35% | 37% |
| Piste at or above 1,800 m | 23% | 25% |
| Season | December to April | December to April |
| Nearest airport | Geneva | Geneva |
Read down the table and most rows are close. The ones that are not are the ski area, the black and the itinerary.
Size: Châtel's map is far bigger
Châtel sits on the Portes du Soleil, twelve villages across two countries on one genuinely linked circuit. Officially it is 600 kilometres, it is measured at 580, and one independent measurement puts it nearer 426. Even Châtel's own sector, the Espace Liberté, shared with Torgon and Morgins, is 120 kilometres.
Villars's area, Villars-Gryon-Les Diablerets, is 87 kilometres of piste, and its ski routes take the pass figure to 104. Glacier 3000 adds another 31 kilometres on passes of three days or more, which is worth knowing if you are there for a week.
Around the villages the gap is smaller. We measure 82 kilometres of piste around Châtel and 71 around Villars, 10.7 more at Châtel, and both are short of the 116 at the median resort we cover. For a family that skis from the door and stays close, that is a modest difference. For anyone who wants to roam, it is not close.
Altitude: a draw, measured
Villars's village is at 1,300 metres, 100 above Châtel's. On the hill there is almost nothing in it. Châtel's skiing tops out at 2,084 metres, the second lowest of the 17 French resorts we cover, and Villars's at 2,074, the lowest of the 15 Swiss resorts we cover: 10 metres apart.
The spread of the piste is just as close. At Châtel, 23 percent of the piste we measure is at or above 1,800 metres, 77 percent is above 1,500, and half of it lies above 1,661. At Villars it is 25 percent, 70 percent and 1,637. Very little of either goes above 2,000 metres: 4 percent at Châtel, 1 at Villars.
Neither is snow sure on our measure, which asks for more than half the piste at or above 1,800 metres and skiing that reaches 2,500. Call it a draw. If height is what you are after, neither is the answer.
The skiing: the same gradients, a different spread
Grades are not comparable across a border, so we compare the measured gradient. On that measure the two are close. Châtel's blues average 15.6 percent and Villars's 15.8, the reds 24.3 and 23.6, the blacks 29.2 and 30.2. Twenty six percent of Châtel's piste is steeper than one in four and 24 percent of Villars's, and the gentle shares are 35 and 37 percent.
45 km blue and easier 55%31 km red 38%5 km black 7%
48 km blue and easier 68%22 km red 30%1.5 km black 2%
Marked off piste itinerary, kept out of the piste totals: Villars 3.9 km.
What differs is how the piste is shared out. Villars is built around the easy end: 68 percent is blue and easier, 48 kilometres of it, and there are 1.5 kilometres of black, the least of the 55 resorts we cover. Its split between easy, red and black is the least even of the 55 resorts we cover. Châtel has 45 kilometres of green and blue, 55 percent of its piste, and 5.4 kilometres of black, the least of the 17 French resorts we cover but more than Villars has.
Villars answers with 3.9 kilometres of marked off piste itinerary, where our data has none at Châtel. Its longest piste is a blue of 2.2 kilometres that drops 397 metres. Châtel's longest, the Tovassière, is a blue of 3 kilometres with 220 metres of drop: longer, and gentler.
Who each one actually suits
Châtel suits families who want value and a traditional village, with room to roam. Value, tradition and families are the three things it does best by our read, and it is rustic and friendly, with farm village character on the Swiss border. The stronger skiers in the group have the circuit, and that is where they will spend the week, because the black close to home is thin.
Villars suits families who want calm. It is family friendly and calm by our read, quiet and family in the way we class it, and families, views and a relaxed week are its list, with Mont Blanc in the view. A family with young children who will ski blues all week can use most of the mountain. A confident teenager will want the itinerary, because there is very little black.
The bit nobody tells you
Swiss grading usually runs kinder than French. A typical Swiss red averages 19.9 percent and a typical French red 24.3, so a family crossing the border often finds the reds a step easier. Not at Villars. Its reds average 23.6 percent, the second steepest of the 15 Swiss resorts we cover, and within a point of Châtel's 24.3.
These are averages per run segment, and a run's grade is set by its steepest pitch, so read them as a feel for the week rather than a verdict on any one run. But if your family is choosing Switzerland for gentler reds, Villars's are closer to a French red than a Swiss one. Its blues, at 15.8 against a typical Swiss 15.0, are close to normal, and they are most of the mountain.
So, which one
you want a big linked circuit for the same height and the same airport, value matters, and someone in the group wants more black than Villars can offer.
the calm and the view are the point, your family will spend the week on blues, or you would like a little marked itinerary and Glacier 3000 on a pass of three days or more. Also if the week has to be in Switzerland.
The mountain is near enough the same height and steepness, and Châtel adds 10.7 kilometres on the doorstep, more black and a far bigger linked circuit beyond. Villars is the right answer when the calm is what you are buying.